Man Jailed For Robbery Murder

A man who stabbed a woman to death during a robbery at her home has been jailed for life.

Paul McManus, 20, murdered Isabelle Sanders in front of her partner at their house in Crookston, Glasgow, last year.

McManus, who was convicted of two other violent robbery attempts, was told he must serve a minimum of 26 years in jail before he can apply for parole.

At the High Court in Livingston, judge Lord Armstrong said he had carried out an attack of "sheer brutality''.

The serial offender struck at the Raeswood Drive home of Ms Sanders, 51, and Norman Busby, 86, on April 9.

The trial heard how the door was answered by Mr Busby, who was stabbed several times in the chest.

McManus, from Govan, was disturbed by Ms Sanders who came downstairs and was killed.

He left with cash and a laptop computer before dumping his bloodstained clothes.

Seven days previously, McManus had chased and stabbed a man on Nitshill Road while attempting to steal his mobile phone.

On the eve of Ms Sanders's murder he stole three bottles of alcohol from a shop and tried to take a car on Barrhead Road, stabbing a man sitting inside the vehicle.

Jennifer Harrower, procurator fiscal for homicides in the west of Scotland, said: "Paul McManus embarked on an escalating series of assaults and robberies on members of the public, which culminated in the murder of Isabelle Sanders in her own home and the near-murder of her partner.

"They were horrific crimes and McManus has left devastation and sadness in his wake. He now faces spending the rest of his life behind bars.''